Completely agree, trade him while we can still sucker some team to take him for anything in return.
Weber is more than ready, my friend with the Pirates has already indicated Weber will be matched with Myers next season.
This to me anyways, is a strong indication that Tallinder won't get resigned in the off season. Him and I were speaking on this earlier this month and he was indicating the organization may attempt a package deal with Tallinder in it at the draft. Now this was just assumptions and speculation, but he did state the organization is not looking at Weber as Lydman's replacement but clearly Tallinders.
He's been correct on everything he's called me on this season as far as call ups go, and working for them in the office helps quite a bit.

As for Gragnani, whether or not people want to hear it, he is on his way up without question next season. My bud tells me its his position to grab at and he has improved both his defensive as well as his offensive game enough that Darcy had a one on one with him while he was in Portland.

So, all in all, the team has options on Defense, but to be sure, we aren't the only ones talking about Butlers play here in Buffalo. He did say they were very surprised by his lack of performance here and its not a slump issue. He was saying its a real conversation down in Portland and it looks more and more like a lack of maturity combined with a lack of confidence and skill that is byting him in the ass. My buddy doesn't think Butler will be on the Sabres roster as a full time player next season and indicated its his to lose.

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Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

As far as I'm concerned Sekera>Butler right now, that's why Andrej should be the 6th man moving forward. He's shown slight improvements in both ends. Plus, Butler's -15 cannot be ignored. Butler's complete inability in all 3 zones is so glaring and I'll bet any team would be dying to take advantage of that, even if he does not get much ice time. Ask Brandon Prust, it is pretty easy to take advantage of him on just one shift.
Besides that, Sekera does have more big game experience. During the Olympics, he played against Ovechkin's line when Slovakia played Russia and did pretty good for such a huge assignment. I sense that's why he played so well in the weeks after the tournament. He also has tons of international World Tournament experience on top of that. I think if Lindy just says that Sekera is the 6th d-man moving forward into the playoffs, that will give him another huge boost and we will see him play well enough in that role to help win some games.

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"

While Butler has been a big disappointment, I'm not giving up on him yet. He had a surprisingly good rookie season. He's still young and learning. Learning a position that takes a lot of time to learn. He may have been rushed into it too soon. The kid may yet rebound in years to come. That being said, I do not want him on the ice come playoff time.

Ham

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Do you believe yet?

why would you trade him now on a down season, you'll get nothing. the kid has shown promise in the past, this could be a sophomore slump to which i agree with Ham on that he should not see ice time the rest of the season. Everyone, including myself, said that of hecht last season. the guy bounced back and made most of us eat our words. but last year we would have gotten nothing for hecht and after this season with butler we won't get much for him. Unless you see a player you truly want and can help this team, and butler will get you him, see if the kid can bounce back.

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"Tis The Season, Fa la la la la LaFontaine" - Rick Jeanneret

Trade him? Absolutely not. Defensive depth is key. He may not be the best D man we have, and yes he makes mistakes, but trade him? Hes got potential. Sophmore slumps exist people.

Now as of right now, I agree he should not be in the lineup... Lets just hope we dont have a repeat of the 05 06 ECF

I have no doubts this is a sophomore slump. However, it is a HELL of a slump!

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mechaphil

...or for that matter, the 06-07 ECF.

I think it's way too early in Butler's career to give up on him and assume he's a bad defenseman all because of an off year. Many people were ready to trade Hecht for a bag of pucks last year, but look at how well he came around this year. Every player is bound to have a bad year at some point. It'll be interesting to see how he responds next season. But right now it's the playoffs and there's too much at stake to just hope that he can somehow find himself, so it'll be interesting to see if Lindy decideds to rotate Butler and Sekera, or if he's going to choose one over the other and have him play throughout the series.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

What about Mason also?

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Sophmore Slump?

Oh man, come on now people, what is with labelling his pathetic play with an excuse? Because thats what it is, nothing more than an excuse, fans attempting to convince themselves mentally that the product they see on the ice is not what it is. Thats just ridiculous.
Butler is "NOT" NHL ready. Its that simple, either he goes back to Portland for further training, he gets traded or he just plain gets cut, those are the realistic choices the team has. To continually insert him into the lineup on any basis what so ever is worse than rolling dice. This guy didn't impress me last season, he sure has not impressed me this season either.

I will never understand loyalty to non impact player. It just makes no sense at all. Not to say he could not become something, but that is why we sign these guys to 2 way contracts. Portland is where this guy needs to be if he is going to remain with the organization. Its abundantly obvious he needs more training time. Everytime he steps on the ice I shudder at what is going to happen. I do not want to see him in 1 playoff game, he is a skating wreck waiting to happen IMO. He does not use his size to lay any serious hits on people, is a terrible passer, puck control is shotty at best, turnovers are common with him, slow skater, gets out worked all over the ice, but especially infront of our own net and has a real tendancy to panick when he feels pressure. This kid sucks ass IMO.

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Lord Stanley's Cup is what its all about.
Mr. Pegula, your destiny awaits you sir.

To be fair, I don't think there's any reason to get too upset.

a) I think people are generally calling it a "sophmore slump" because he showed so much promise his rookie season, enough to warrant the organization to want to keep him up full time. Whatever he was doing then, he's apparently capable of. Just hasn't been able to muster up really at all this season. He's usually paired with Rivet, who has been having a stinker of a season as well, and probably isn't giving Butler much of a chance to hone his craft. Not every journeyman defenseman can hold his own like Tyler Myers.

b) I don't think any of us want him on the ice, so don't go thinking if we were GM's or head coaches of this team that we wouldn't want to bench his ass or send him back to Portland, and give him some golden ticket to play as badly and as often as he wants because it's a "sophmore slump". That's not the case. I guess some of us around here would rather bench him and/or send him back down then to have him traded. I think we can all agree with that a little.

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Sophomore slump. It's typical. I'm not giving up on the Butler just yet. He's still young.

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Wheelhouse

Sending him back to Portland or just sitting him does not amount to "giving up on him". Trading him would be giving up on him, but that would be a good thing if the team ends up better for it. Butler clearly isn't playing well enough to be getting ice time in the playoffs. If there was a better option he wouldn't be in consideration.

As far as a sophmore slump, we can't make any guess right now. It could be the case that last season was a freshman high note. Maybe what he's shown this season is the real Butler. In any case, he's under contract for one more season and there's nothing wrong with keeping him in the organization, but there's certainly reason to upgrade the d-corps this summer in part due to his play.

I'm going to hang my hopes on Weber, a quality PP QB type d-man signing, and maybe Gragnani showing something.